Roles and user groups

This chapter provides information about roles and user groups in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration which uses roles and user groups to provide varying levels of privilege (access). This technique permits granting only the required privileges for a selected group of users and limits the configuration functions that users in a particular user group can perform.

Overview

Roles and user groups provide multiple levels of security to Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration and to other applications. The system groups the resources that are available to Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration and to other applications into roles. Each application comes with standard, predefined roles. Each application defines its own access privilege for Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration.

Administrators can configure additional roles for an application. A role contains, for a particular application, the list of resources that an application comprises. For each resource that a role comprises, the administrator defines the access privilege. For the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration application, the access privileges include read and update. Other applications specify their own access privileges.

Because Cisco Unified Communications Manager allows administrators to manage user groups, roles, and resources, no guarantee exists that a particular user group or role goes unchanged or that administrators will use the predefined user groups or roles.

Roles

The system groups the resources that are available to Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration and to other applications into roles. A role includes a collection of resources for an application, such as Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. The following types of roles exist:

Custom roles-Administrator-defined roles that you configure in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration after a Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation; for example, a help desk role.

Standard roles-Default roles that get created automatically with Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation; you cannot modify or delete standard roles, but you can copy them to create custom roles, which allows you to modify them for your preferences. (See the table below for the list of standard roles and the privileges/resources that the role provides.)

Each role contains a group of resources, with privileges assigned to each resource. For most applications with graphical user interfaces, such as Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, privileges allow you to perform tasks, such as viewing or updating data, in a specific window or a group of related windows, which are defined as resources in the Role Configuration window. For example, for the Standard CCM Feature Management role, you can view and configure message waiting in the Message Waiting Configuration window in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. For each role that is associated with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, the specified privilege allows a certain level of access to each of the resources (windows). For example, privileges specify the following access in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration:

Read- Allows users in a user group to view data in specific windows (defined as resources), but the user(s) cannot modify data in the window. Buttons such as Insert, Delete, Update, and Reset do not display.

Update-Allows users in a user group to view and modify data in certain windows (defined as resources for the role). Users with the update privilege can perform operations such as Insert, Delete, Update, and Reset.

Other applications, such as CTI applications, specify their own access privileges and do not use the read and update privileges or a common list of resources (which are configuration windows in most cases); for example, the Standard CTI Allow Call Recording role allows CTI devices/CTI applications to record calls, and the Standard EM Authentication Proxy Rights manages Cisco Extension Mobility authentication rights for application users that interact with Cisco Extension Mobility.

Note

The Standard CCM Admin Users role gives the user access to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration user interface. This role, the base role for all administration tasks, serves as the authentication role. Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration defines this role as the role that is necessary to log in to Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration.

The Standard CCM Admin Users role includes no permissions beyond logging into Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. The administrator must add another authorization role to define the parts of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration that the user can administer. The Standard CCMADMIN Administration role allows a user to access and make changes in all of Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration.

Note

A user with only the Standard CCM Admin Users role can access Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration but cannot make any changes. A user with only the Standard CCMADMIN Administration role can make changes, but cannot authenticate entry to Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration.

A user, therefore, must have the Standard CCM Admin Users role to access Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration and must have at least one other role to administer the system.

The following table lists the standard roles, the application(s) that the roles support, the privileges (resources) for the roles, and the standard user groups that are automatically associated with the standard roles.

Caution

For a role, supported privileges are checked in the Role Configuration window. For standard roles, you cannot change the configuration, but if you want to do so, you can copy a standard role to configure a custom role, which you can modify to your preferences.

After you configure the user, make sure that you add the user to the Standard CCM End Users user group (User Management > User Group). If you do not add the user to this group, the user cannot view and update the Cisco Unified CM User Options.

Standard CCM End Users

Standard CCM Feature Management

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration

Allows an administrator to perform the following tasks:

View, delete, and insert the following items by using the Bulk Administration Tool:

Client matter codes and forced authorization codes

Call pickup groups

View and configure the following items in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration:

Allows an administrator to view and use the SOAP Serviceability AXL APIs, the SOAP Call Record APIs, the SOAP Diagnostic Portal (Analysis Manager) Database Service; view and configure trace for the audit log feature, and view and configure the Real-Time Monitoring Tool, including collecting traces in RTMT.

Standard RealtimeAndTraceCollection

Standard SERVICEABILITY

Cisco Unified Serviceability and Real-Time Monitoring Tool

Allows an administrator to view and configure the following windows in Cisco Unified Serviceability or the Real-Time Monitoring Tool:

User groups

After configuration of custom roles, you can configure user groups, which are a collection of Cisco Unified Communications Manager application users and end users that get grouped together for the purpose of assigning a common list of roles to the members in the user group. Like standard roles, standard user groups get created at installation, and you cannot delete these user groups; you can only add or delete application or end users from standard user groups.

Standard user groups in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration provide a predefined set of roles and permissions for various functions. Administrators can manage user groups, roles, and permissions to control the level of access (and, therefore, the level of security) for system users.

Various named user groups that are predefined have no members that are assigned to them at install time. The Cisco Unified Communications Manager super user or a user with access to user group configuration should add users to these groups. The super user or a user with access to user group configuration can configure additional named user groups as needed.

Note

The Standard CCM Super Users user group represents a named user group that always has full access permission to all named roles. You cannot delete this user group. You can only make additions and deletions of users to this group.

Note

CCMAdministrator always represents a super user.

Certain user groups and roles exhibit limitations that administrators need to recognize. For example, you can modify the Standard EM Authentication Proxy Rights user group by adding both application users and end users. Because authentication by proxy is intended for use by applications, end users that get added to this user group cannot authenticate by proxy.

Access log

The log contains a file report of access/change attempts. That is, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration generates a record of attempts to access or modify any directory or database component through Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. The change record includes the user name, date, time, window from which the change was made, and the success or failure status of the update.

Enterprise parameters

Effective Access Privileges for Overlapping User Groups and Roles

The Effective Access Privileges For Overlapping User Groups and Roles enterprise parameter determines the level of user access for users that belong to multiple user groups and have conflicting privileges.

You can set this enterprise parameter to the following values:

Maximum-The effective privilege represents the maximum of the privileges of all the overlapping user groups.

Minimum-The effective privilege represents the minimum of the privileges of all the overlapping user groups.

This enterprise parameter does not affect the privileges for the members of the Standard CCM Super Users user group.

Create a custom help desk role and user group

Some companies want their help desk personnel to have privileges to be able to perform certain tasks, such as adding a phone, adding an end user, or adding an end user to a user group in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration.

Performing the steps in the following example allows help desk personnel to add a phone, add an end user, and add the end user to the Standard CCM End Users user group, which allows an end user to access and update the Cisco Unified CM User Options.

Example-Allows Help Desk Personnel to Add Phone, Add End User, and Add End User to User Group

In the Name field, enter the name of the role; for example, Help Desk.

Step 5

In the Description field, enter a short description; for example, for adding phones and users.

Step 6

Choose one of the following options, which depends on where you want the help desk personnel to perform the task:

If you want the help desk personnel to add a phone in the Phone Configuration window and then add an end user in the End User Configuration window. check the read and update privileges check boxes for the User web page resource and the Phone web pages resource; then, click Save.

If you want the help desk personnel to add both a phone and user at the same time in the User and Phone Add window, check the read and update privileges check boxes for the User and Phone add resource and the User web page resource; then click Save.

Step 7

By performing the following tasks, create a custom user group for the help desk: